They're Watching You was a delightful surprise read for me. I devoured this book; it was a quick and engaging read.

This story is a dark academia thriller involving a secret society at Maren Montgomery's school. When her best friend and roommate, Polly, goes missing after diving deep into the secret society, Maren figures the best way to find her friend is to get herself invited into the society. They're Watching You portrays how much a person can mean to you and the great lengths you will go to find them, as well as showing how some people can be very delusional.

Ichaso wrote this story in a manner that truly grips the reader into wanting to know what happens. I enjoyed the many games that Maren and the other members of the society had to play. With every challenge, they risked their lives, making it even more thrilling to see who would go on to the next game. The twists were executed nicely, and I did not guess any of them, making the story even more enjoyable. The book is very YA, and it could have gone darker, more profound, and even more in-depth with the games and how the story ends. That is the main reason for my rating, but regardless, it still wrapped up nicely, and it was so fast and fun to read that I still enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire, for providing an eARC of They're Watching You. This review is being left voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

Wow,I couldn't put this book down! So many fun twists! I really enjoy books that are set at private boarding schools. Very well done!

I thought this book had very strong dark academia tones to it, following Maren, a scholarship student at a prestigious school, whose roommate suddenly disappears.

Looking for clues, she joins a secret society, and all hell breaks loose.

I can definitely appreciate a book about a secret society running rampant through a school but it seemed a bit far fetched in some cases to me - like murdering students and getting away with it ? The master of the society being a high school student, when some adults don't even make it past the 3rd level?

The pacing was also very quick and it felt difficult to connect to some of the side characters, as we love them one page and hate them the next, and back and forth and back and forth.

Otherwise, a solid read!

Thank you Netgalley for the free eARC !

I was not a fan of this mystery YA, despite it having a good plot, it did not suck me it.

Let me start out by saying I ended up liking this book quite a lot. However, it took untill nearly the 40% mark for me to consider it "unputdownable". Before that, even though I was enjoying the story, I wasn't captivated yet. I honestly cannot explain it; I had to push hard to stick with it. The second half definitely picked up and I enjoyed it thoroughly. None of it is believable, but it was a whole lot of fun!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this arc. I offer my review freely.

An excellent book by Chelsea Ichaso. I enjoyed reading this cover to cover. It was a great read and I will recommend this book to my friends.

A new take on HS secret societies. This one made me think of Ace of Spades and The Mary Shelley Club but with a new twist. When a girls room mate goes missing she is determined to find her. She discovers a secret society and joins the group to find answers. But is the group responsible? Is more sinister work at play? A great edge of your seat thriller!

Thank you NetGalley for the preview. This was an excellent rainy weekend read. If you are a fan of secret societies, this is the book for you. It did take me a bit to get into the story, but once I did I was hooked.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Okay, so this is the second book I read from the author and I could tell that even if I didn't know this book was from Chelsea Ichaso. They're Watching You really caught my attention when I saw it was about a secret society, I was really curious and excited to read it.
The book was very entertaining. We have an interesting main character, a great pacing, a dark academia vibes with boarding school, dangerous games, plot-twists, a not-so-good-best-friend/roomate who disappeared and no one seem to care... If you like these things, you'll probably gonna like They're Watching You. Also, there's a love triangle, the only thing I really disliked but I rarely enjoy love triangles so it's fine.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this awesome YA, dark academia, thriller! This is about a girl named Maren who gets sucked into a secret society on her school campus when she infiltrates the group to save her friend that has recently gone missing. It has a great spooky atmosphere and mystery. If you like the tropes of secret societies, competitions and love triangles then you'll love this. It is pretty romance heavy so be aware of that but I found those aspects really fun.

When Maren Montgomery’s roommate suddenly disappears, Maren is sure that something sinister happened. And Maren’s suspicions are heightened when she discovers an invitation from the Gamemaster’s Society among her roommate’s things. Maren only heard vague rumors about the existence of a secrety society. But the invitation in front of her served as confirmation that a secret society existed at her school. Perhaps the society was the reason for her roommate’s disappearance.

Driven by curiosity and the need to locate her best friend and roommate Polly, Maren sets out to secure her own invitation to the Gamemaster’s Society. It was Maren’s hope that she would be able to uncover the truth about Polly from within the Society’s membership. A membership that could prove deadly.

They’re Watching You was an adrenaline packed read. The novel hooked me from the start and I could not put it down. I finished the book in two sittings. A first for me.

The characters are fleshed out and well developed. There’s quite a number of them, but it wasn’t too difficult to distinguish one from the other. Author Ichaso managed to capture the essence of private high school teens — the ones that have money and power, and the ones that don’t. I found Ichaso’s depiction of those high schoolers so real.

I loved the plot. There were a number of twists that kept me guessing all the way till they end. Add in some riddles to the equation and you have one heck of a novel that really tested my puzzling skills.

They’re Watching You is a definite must read if you’re a fan of Diana Urban, Cate Holahan, and Jennifer Mathieu. Five outstanding stars.

I received a digital ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Fire through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

A phenomenal teen mystery. I really enjoyed a new twist on the genre. I love any teen mystery that involves codes and secret societies and this one really delivered! It was superb!

This book wasn’t a favorite of mine. Secret society books are usually too far-fetched for my liking. The characters were unremarkable to me and I just couldn’t get into it.

This book was amazing. The characters and the plot. I was stuck in this story and felt like I couldn’t leave. It was haunting and creepy, beautiful and wonderful. We need more books like this.

This book was AWESOME. They had me questioning every character, heck I even said “is it me? Am I in this book?” Loved it, I want everyone to read it!!

An elite private school, a missing girl, and a secret society... what else could you ask for?

Polly is gone, and her best friend Maren knows that she wouldn't just run away, and when she finds a mysterious invitation to a secret society in Polly's things Maren begins to dig. If Polly was a member of this society they had to have something to do with her going missing. Once she makes it in, Maren hopes to figure out what happened but to do that she has to play the game. But playing is dangerous, society members are everywhere, and there is no one she can 100% trust.

This was a fast-paced read that sucked me in and had me flipping pages late into the night until I reached the very end, and I was totally surprised by how everything played out. I will definitely pick up more from this author.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good campus and secret society story, this story was an easy read, and if you can suspend your beliefs about a secret society having such a strong chokehold over the members, you'll enjoy the story.

I sat down and read this one. I loved the quick pace and the fact that something was always happening. I loved this idea of a cult at highschool. The character development was amazing. The author did an incredible job with the push/pull between Maren, Remington and Gavin. I never knew who to trust. I kept thinking I had it figured out, who the "good" person was but I kept getting it wrong. There were quite interesting challenges.
I will definitely recommend to an older teen due to content. Great twists - did not see it coming that the story was gonna flip on its head

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This book is a blast! I had so much fun reading this!! The whole time I was reading this I constantly was questioning everything and everyone and every action anyone took. This book kept me on my toes till the last page and I love that so much! It's exactly what I'm looking for in a ya thriller.

This has romance, dark academia vibes with the boarding school and the secret society. The life or death vibe while crawling through tunnels and catacombs kept the tone of the book very dark and creepy. Definitely recommend!

Out January 3, 2023!

okay wow! this was NOT what I was expecting to read - but spoiler alert, I kinda loved it!!

this was my first book by this author - and you can bet I’m going to be binge reading the rest! the creativity and ability to completely suck the reader in is UNMATCHED 👏🏼 I stayed up wayyy too late finishing this one!!

give me dark academia and secret societies and I’m automatically in! and this one was no exception … the entire premise revolves around a secret society modeled after the worshipping of greek gods and the games they used to play with humans 😬😮‍💨

so when MC maren decides to infiltrate the society to find out what happened to her best friend, SHIT GETS REAL 🤯 the tasks were so involved and detailed that I felt like I was right there with her!!

now I’m on a YA kick and I’m okay with that 😮‍💨

the ending I felt was super rushed to the point where I was like “wait what” approx 10 times in 10 pages, and it was wayyyyy too much of a neat HEA ending for this kind of book. I know, I know, normally I’m all about the happy endings, but this one almost invites an ambiguous reader gets to decide ending. so, a lil disappointed on that front …

all in all, a fabulous quick binge read! thank you netgalley and sourcebooks fire for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay (unoaked)